Device for checking the sale of cigars.



No. 869,477. PA'IBNTED OUT. 29. 1907.

J. H. BOWE. I

mavm FOR CHECKING THE'SALE 0F CIGARS.

' APPLIOATION FILED JANJI, 1905.

2 SHEETs-SHEET 1.

Wan Luau No. 869,477 PATENTED OCT. 29. 1907;

J. H. BOWE. DEVICE FOR CHECKING THE SALE OF CIGARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAlLll, 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Q Qhtm we; I amvzmtoz M @M PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. BOWE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR'OHECKING THE SALE OF CIGARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application filed January 11. 1905. Serial No. 240,556-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .IAMEs H. BOWE, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Device for Checking the Sale of Cigars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cigar checks and has for its object the construction of a device which will detect the removal of a cigar from the receptacle in which it is contained and at the same time offer a voucher for the cigar removed.

At the present time the manufacturer of cigars has no positive assurance that the cigars of his manufacture are properly delivered to the users of his particular brand, nor has the retailer any way of knowing that the proper cigars are delivered to his customers, particularly in hotels and restaurants Where Waiters carry the cigars to the customers, nor has the retailer any means, except by counting, of knowing how many cigars have been removed or how many remain in the box when an accounting of stock is required.

I am aware that heretofore various devices have been constructed to indicate the sale of particular articles, and also that devices have been constructed for packing cigars and retaining them within their receptacle with fixed relation to each other, and also packed so that they can be separately removed, but no means have been disclosed whereby the removal of the cigars from the receptacle will yield a voucher for each cigar removed, and that a cigar can not be removed without yielding such voucher. I

In the present invention I have constructed a checking device in which the cigars are first packed after which the checking device containing the packed cigars is placed within a box or receptacle and in any suitable manner secured thereto so'that the cigars can only be removed singly from said receptacle and will yield a voucher for each cigar removed. After the cigars have been placed Within the box or receptacle, it is impossible to substitute one cigar for another without breaking the seal and removing the voucher. This fact insures the manufacturer that the proper cigars will be delivered to the customer.

With these ends in view I have devised and constructed the hereinafter described invention, the merits of which will first be described in detail and then pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the checking device within a receptacle with the cigars omitted. Fig. 2 is an end view of the receptacle with the end removed showing the cigars in position therein. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing how the rows of vouchers are removed. Fig. 4 isa detail perspective view showing how the vouchers are broken away from the body of the device. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show a modified form wherein the vouchers are separate from the body of the device. Figs. 8 and 9 show another modified form wherein the vouchers are attached to the body of the device and also engage the body of the cigar.

In the general construction and application of my invention 1 is a box or receptacle of ordinary construction, 2 the lid and 3 the side walls thereof.

Shaped in a manner to fit the interior of the box or receptacle is a packing tray 4 consisting of a main body portion 5, which, after said tray has had the cigars packed therein, is secured to the bottom of the box or receptacle in any suitable manner such as cementing or the like, and vertical side walls 6 which engage the sides of the box or receptacle, said body and side wall portions being preferably of one piece and of any suitable material, such as paper, paste board or the like. The side walls 6 have formed thereon or attached thereto on their inner sides, facing each other, horizontal rows of ledges 7 in which openings or pockets 8 are formed for the purpose of receiving the ends of the cigars 11 and retaining them in the desired position. In Fig. 1 these horizontal rows of ledges 7 are shown as formed integral with the body portion 5 of the packing tray, each ledge being attached to the vertical Walls 6, as shown at 9 in any suitable manner, such as pasting or the like. Portions of the tops of the ledges are adapted to form vouchers 10, one for each opening in the front of the ledges. These vouchers must be broken away from the ledges before the cigars can be removed from the packing tray. The vouchers 10 are formed by perforating the tops of the ledges to meet the openings 8, as shown at .12 in Fig. 4. When all the cigars have been removed from the top ledge it is necessary to remove saidledge in order to release the cigars from the ledge next below and operate the vouchers of the same so that the cigars can be removed. This isaccomplished by perforating the vertical side 6 of the tray and the wall of each ledge where said wall joins the vertical side, as shown at 14 in Figs. 1 and 3. Fig. 3 shows part of the ledge '7 torn away on the line of perforation 14, and shows how the next ledge under is exposed so that the cigars can be removed therefrom. It is not necessary to perforate the ledges on both side walls Gas above described inasmuch as the breaking of a voucher from one of the ledges allows the cigar to be lifted therefrom and also with drawn from the opening 8 in the ledge on the opposite side wall 6.

Each voucher bears a mark or number as indicated at 15, preferably in consecutive order from 1 to 50, or whatever number of cigars is contained within the receptacle or box, said marks or numbers indicating how many cigars have been removed from the receptacle or box and also how many cigars remain in the receptacle tray 4 in the same manner as shown in Fig. 1.

or box. These vouchers may be detached from the ledges 7 when the cigars are removed or remain thereon, as shownin Fig. 4 and be removed with-the ledge when said ledge is detached from the tray in the manner shown in Fig. 3. These vouchers may also have marked thereon the particular brand of cigars contained within the box and the manufacturer or sellers, private marks of trade 01' other suitable characters of identification.

The cigars when packed within the tray preferably have the pointed ends thereof project into the pockets or openings 8 of the ledges which have the vouchers 10 attached thereto while the ledges on the opposite side of the tray receive the butt ends of the cigars within the openings or pockets 8. It is not necessary in applying my invention to alter the shape or style of the present boxes or receptacles employed in packing cigars. The packing trays fit within said box in such manner that the cigars held in about the same relation to each other that they assume, when packed in the ordinary manner. Of course, it is obvious that by giving each cigar an independent support it cannot move, shift or become broken or damaged while the box is being emptied.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 a modified form of the invention is shown wherein the receptacle 1 receives the packing The ledges 7 which receive the points of the cigars have the openings or pockets 8, but do not have the vouchers 10 forming part thereof. In this modification the vouch' ers are removed leaving openings 8 in the tops of the ledges so that the cigars can be readily removed. The ledges 8 between which the butt ends of the cigars rest are constructed as shown in Fig. 7, that is, so as to prevent the voucher containing sheet 8 from being disengaged from the cigars. The voucher containing sheet 8 is formed with a bottom and two side walls With the bottom portion attached to the packing tray as shown in Fig. 5 in both sides (3 thereof having openings 8 which register with the openings 8 in the ledges 7. Over the openings 8* which receive the pointed ends of the cigars and forming part of the voucher con taining sheet 8* are the vouchers 10, similar in shape to the vouchers shown in Fig. 4. These vouchers are capable of being torn from the sheet 8 -whcn it is desired to remove a cigar from the receptacle. The sheet 8 is perforated, asshown at- 12 and 14 so that the vouchers can be removed singly or as desired.

In Figs. 8 and 9 a further modification of the invention is shown wherein the voucher containing sheet 25 is directly secured to the box in a manner similar to the packing tray 4 disclosed in Fig. 1.' This sheet 25 has attached ther .io vouchers 26, said vouchers having a strip 27 to which is attached a band 28 adapted to embrace "he body of the cigar. Thus it will be seen that each ciga. is held within the receptacle and cannot be removed therefrom without yielding a voucher for the removal of said cigar.

The packing, placing of cigars within the receptacle and the removal of cigars therefrom in my preferred form as shown in Fig. 1 is conducted in the following manner: The packing tray 4 is first shaped as shown in Fig. 1, whereupon the lower row of cigars is placed Within the packing tray so that the points of the cigars are preferably within the openings 8 of the ledges which have the vouchers iormed thereon, the butt ends of the ci ars within the openings 8 in the ledges on the opposite side of the packing tray. Each layer or row of cigars is packed in the above manner, and after the tray is filled the gum or cement on the under side of the bottom portion 5 is moistened, whereupon the packing tray is placed wi 'n the receptacle or box and the lid of the same closed and secured in the usual manner, which will cause the bottom of the packing tray 4 to adhere to the bottom of the box and therefore seai every cigar within said receptacle. When the box is opened the cigars can be removed therefrom only by breaking the seal of a marked voucher, When it is desired to remove a cigar the finger tip or an instrument is inserted within the opening 8 and moved upward which will cause the voucher to be torn away from the ledge 7 on the lines of the perforations 12 thereby freeing the pointed end of the cigar and allowing the same to be lifted and also disengaged from the opening 8 in the ledge 7 opposite the voucher ledge. Thus it will be seen that as many cigars as may be desired can be removed from the box but that for each cigar removed a marked voucher will be given and each cigar accounted for. After all the cigars have been removed from the top row the top ledge is detached from the tray 4 on the line of perforations marked 14 and the row of cigars next under will be exposed in the same manner as was the top row and the cigars removed in the same manner and so on each row is removed until the box is emptied.

Of course it is obvious that certain details of construction can be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a receptacle, a tray adapted to hold cigars and be sealed within said receptacle, and two series of ledges attached to said tray and having openings therein one of the series of ledges adapted to engage one end of the cigars, the other series adapted to engage the other end of the cigars, the ledges or one series being separately detachable from the tray and also having :1 number of detachable vouchers formed on each ledge one for each cigar contained within said receptacle.

2. In device of the character described, the combination or a cigar receptacle, a tray adapted to be sealed within said receptacle, and two series of ledges having openings adapted to receive the ends of the cigars therein and attached to said tray, one of the series of ledges havin perforations between each ledge whereby said ledges may be separately detached from the tray, and also provided with a number of detachable vouchers for indicating the removal of a cigar from said ledge.

1%. In a device of the character described, the combination of :1 cigar receptacle, and. a tray having a bottom and side wall portions the bottom portion provided with cement for sealing the tray within said receptacle, and each side wall portion having a series of ledges provided with openings for engaging the cigars each ledge of one of the series of ledges being separately detachable from the tray, and also having a number of detachable vouchers for indicating the removal of a cigar from said ledge.

JAMES H. BOWE'.

Witnesses Wu. A. CoUn'rLANn, Wu. P. HAMMOND. 

